One Half of Two Sides
by Microtomb
Summary: Meeting her was pure coincidence. Helping her was merely on a whim. Getting to know her however... ' Let's go.' They started walking. The girl followed as well, only to be stopped in her tracks by a stern glare. 'You stay.' He said simply, and she did
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

Well it's been about 4months since I uploaded anything to FF. I am primarily a reader so yeah, but recently I was inspired by the lack of soi/ichi fics and decided to have a go at writing one. This is effectively a prologue, so it is relatively short, but to avoid confusion, I'll just call it chapter one.

**One Half of Two Sides:**

**Chapter 1:**

The Beginning.

"Kurotsuchi, hurry it up already!" yelled Fuku-taicho of the 5th division, Hozuku Jiban. Jiban was currently heading an expedition to the real world along with 3rd seat Kurotsuchi Mayuri to train the newer recruits in konso. Currently they were located in an old rundown western style town where a lot of souls seemed to be lingering. This drew soul society's attention as a large number of souls left unattended, would mean a lot of hollows once their chains of fate were gone.

Jiban shunpo'd to the designated gathering area, most of the new recruits had already finished up and from what Jiban could tell, there were only one or two souls left in the area. Scanning the faces of his subordinates, Jiban noticed quite a few of them talking rather animatedly about their recent fieldwork, obviously having enjoyed their time in the real world. He allowed himself a small smile as the last of the recruits showed up, there was one soul left that he could see on his soul pager, but he noticed Mayuri was closing in on it. Putting away his pager, he coughed lightly to gather the attention of his men.

"Well overall I'd say this mission was a success. Everybody made sure to finish within the designated time and some of you even managed to konso two souls." He praised. There was a light murmuring of agreement whilst others turned to their fellow squad members and bragged that they had done two konsos. He coughed again to gather their attention once more.

"In any case, once 3rd seat Kurotsuchi is finished, we will be heading ba…"

A sharp increase in reiatsu drew Jiban's attention in Mayuri's direction, he doubted it was anything that could harm the 3rd seat, but he was concerned, even if the man was a little…odd. Jiban called to his subordinates.

"Everybody follow me, but make sure not to get too close, lets go see what our 3rd seat has gotten himself into."

A multitude of shunpo whispers followed shortly after the command.

As they neared an abandoned looking shed, reiatsu was starting to flood the air. The ground beneath them shook lightly and inside, the darkness was illuminated by the faint glow of reiatsu. Jiban motioned for his men to stay outside, whilst he went in and investigated. In the middle of the shed, towering over the source of the reiatsu, was none other than Kurotsuchi Mayuri, looking on in mild fascination as the soul he was supposed to konso was starting to under go the hollowfication process. Jiban sighed at the sight, the soul was a fairly young one, and it was a shame to see it was too late to save it.

"Too late I see, it really is a shame, if only we had made it in time." Jiban stated.

Mayuri shot him a slightly confused look, before grinning.

"Yes…time. Unfortunately, I had to speed things along." Jiban gave Mayuri a confused look of his own, before he noticed in one of Mayuri's hands was a freshly cut chain of fate. A shocked look flashed on Jiban's face before narrowing his eyes and putting his hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto.

" What is the meaning of this 3rd seat Kurotsuchi?" He asked angrily.

Mayuri paid his lieutenant no heed as the young souls face was starting to become covered by a hollows mask. Stepping forward, Kurotsuchi pulled out his zanpakuto with what seemed like hostile intentions. At this, Jiban visibly relaxed, believing Mayuri to be about to end the souls life before the hollowfication process could be complete…but what Mayuri did next shocked him. Mayuri promptly brought the hilt of his zanpakuto to the forehead of the soul, performing a konso, mid hollowfication. Before Jiban even knew what was happening, a bright light filled the shed before disappearing, along with the soul. A maniacal grin plastered itself onto Mayuri's face as he laughed in ecstasy.

"So it DOES work after all, how marvellous."

Rage quickly filled the 5th division fuku-taicho as he promptly lifted his 3rd seat up by the collar and slammed him into the wall.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING KUROTSUCHI!"

He yelled. The almost deranged look Mayuri had on his face was directed to Jiban.

"Research of course, what else?" He stated almost nonchalantly. Looking down at the hand holding him in place, he added. "I'd appreciate it if you let me down now, Hozuku, we wouldn't want to be late in turning in our mission after all."

Jiban was furious; the man blatantly committed an act of treason right in front of his superior, and then has the nerve to act like it was nothing special. He had always felt there was something off about this man, but now he could see that his suspicions were correct. The man was insane.

" Men, in here now!" He called out. When his subordinates had gathered, most were looking on confused as to why their fuku-taicho was holding their 3rd seat up against a wall.

"3rd sea…no. Kurotsuchi Mayuri, I am placing you under arrest for treason! Men, detain and escort him to the 2nd division head quarters for interrogation." As Mayuri was cuffed his fuku-taicho gave him one last word.

"I don't know why you did this Mayuri, but know well that if you end up in the maggots nest, it was completely your own doing."

At the same time this was happening, a young boy with a strange mask opened his eyes for what felt like the first time in the soul society.

"Where am I?"

**A/N**:

I'm sure you all have a grasp on who the soul is. For this story I intend for the protagonist to have no Shinigami aspect to him, and only have hollow powers, this was my way of going about that. Next chapter will introduce Soifon.

**News relating to updating in general**:

Right now I am very inspired to write this story, so it will be getting updated every week or so. For my other fics, the ones that I will continue for the time being are, To Share My Pain (I nearly have a chapter ready to upload), Karakura kid and a new Naruto/Oc fic I am writing. R&R always appreciated, per usual lol.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**:

Just fyi, 'She' is Soifon and 'The man' is Ichigo. Ages are 12 and 19.

I didn't expect any review on my last chapter, as there wasn't much to comment about,

But 3 people decided to make me write this chapter lol.

As for your question Age-Persona, yes Ichigo is the protagonist, at least I intend him to be, however this chapter is written from Soifon's perspective.

**One Half of Two Sides:**

**Chapter 2: **

Oh?

Hungry. She was so damn hungry. Ever since she had been old enough to fend for herself…she had fended for herself. The people who she used to call 'Mother' and 'Father' seemingly losing interest in her when she began to eat more then they could provide.

One day when they were walking near a river her father said 'Go and catch yourself a fish.' Not hesitating in the slightest, she faithfully performed the task at hand and returned not 10 minutes later with a fresh one. The man had nodded his head in approval, his daughter smilingly softly. 'She is ready.' He spoke. Without another word, the Man motioned for his wife to follow him ' Let's go.' They started walking. The girl followed as well, only to be stopped in her tracks by a stern glare. 'You stay.' He said simply, and she did.

That was the last time she ever saw them. She was only 8 years old. 4 years later and she was still alone, living off of the environment and the occasional town she would come across. She came to realise that to survive, you had to take what you needed and ask questions later. The adults in the districts saw kids like her as nothing, they showed no sympathy to the starving, and the vendors generally sold food at prices far too high for any 'poor kid' to pay. So she stole, whenever she was not camping out in the woods, she would steal from people; fishing nets, pieces of cloth, food and the occasional knife or weapon. She would sell her stolen goods to a merchant then steal it all back from him, it was all about survival after all. The only people who weren't stealing were the ones getting stolen from, and even then there were exceptions to the rule. Right now though, she felt like some food…and she would've stolen some of that too, if not for the fact that it was pretty hard to find someone to steal from when you were lost in a forest.

The sun was setting and the girl was losing hope of ever getting out of this maze of trees. She figured if she kept walking forwards she'd eventually break free of the bush or come to some sort of clearing at least…this was to no avail. All hope was lost, SHE was lost. She would die a hungry death in the harsh forests of the Rukon district. She would die cold and alone, the cold part depending on whether or not she could be bothered getting out her blanket, and no one would care. These were all melodramatics of course, she didn't believe for a second she was going to die, but she sure as hell was hungry! The darker it got, the more her tiredness rose, she would eventually stop to sleep, maybe tomorrow she would be able to navigate her way out of this damned forest. She stopped her movements and stood stock still in the night air, listening. She was listening for the rushing of water, the quiet lapping it made on the banks when it flowed down its stream. Sleeping near a river was preferable; you had an infinite source of water at your disposal for drinking, cleaning and possibly fishing. No such water lapping noises came to her, a frown marred her face, she did however hear a faint crackling. It was far, and she wouldn't have heard it had she not been giving one hundred percent focus to the task at hand. Crackling usually meant fires…and fires usually meant food. Food! At last, she would sate the demon called her stomach and all would be well with the world. As she neared the source of the crackling, a dull orange light illuminated the forest. Now how to steal it she mused.

With soundless footfalls she edged closer to a bush that would give her a good vantage point to assess the situation. Looking over the brush she made out a hooded man sitting on a rock that overlooked his fire. He was turning his skewered dinner over the fire, cooking it evenly so as not to burn, it looked to be rabbit. She sniffed the air for confirmation, it was indeed rabbit, and it smelt good. Traipsing through the forest, she circled around the man until she came about 5 metres directly behind him. He was unaware of her presence as far as she could tell, as he was still turning his food contentedly, unbeknownst that it was about to be hers. Silently, she removed a small dagger from a holster on her thigh, she'd never actually killed someone before, but for the added intimidation factor, it worked wonders. She started taking steps, making sure not to make any noise. As she came up behind the man she raised her dagger, and when she was within range, held it firmly against his throat. Oddly, she noticed, the man didn't tense up at all.

"Hand over your food, slowly, and keep your hands where I can see them." She said in a commanding voice. She thought she heard the man snort before his hand flashed up to grab the wrist of her dagger holding hand. He gave a good squeeze causing her to yelp in pain and drop the dagger. With his free hand, he caught the falling weapon and spun his body around, roles now reversed as he pointed the blade at her throat.

"And why would I do…"The man broke off at seeing his attacker. "Oh?" He sounded surprised. The girl stared nervously as the dagger floated close to her throat.

"Just a kid." He grunted dismissively, before dropping the dagger at his feet and sitting back on his rock, tending to his food, the girl was left flustered. This act of …whatever it was confused the girl. On one hand she felt angered that the man felt she was completely harmless, on the other she couldn't help but feel grateful that he had spared her life. Giving a long exhale of breath she didn't know she was holding, she hesitantly picked up her dagger and sheathed it. The man made no move to stop her reclaiming her weapon. Suddenly she felt very awkward, she really wanted food, but she didn't know if he would give her some after what she just pulled, and she doubted she could take it by force. She was a bit socially deficient, if she tried to recall, she probably wouldn't be able to remember the last time she held a decent conversation with someone.

"Excuse me, uhm, sir." The man raised his head and gave her a sideways glance. She had his attention at least.

"If it wouldn't trouble you, would I be able to have some of that rabbit?" She hoped she sounded polite and sincere. The man simply stared in her direction for another 10 seconds before turning his head back to the fire.

"No."

Inwardly she groaned, and outwardly, her stomach did too. A wave of exhaustion passed over her, it was dark out now, and she didn't feel strong enough to look for a spot of her own to camp. Glancing back at the man, then his fire, she idly wondered if he wouldn't mind her sleeping here for the night, after all, he didn't seem to think she was a threat, and finding wood to start another fire with no sunlight would be a daunting task.

"Would I be able to sleep here?" She asked. She waited for a reply, but none came, he didn't even acknowledge that she had spoken. Well it wasn't a 'no' at least. Feeling too tired to care; she pulled out a thick blanket from her rather small backpack and curled up against a nearby tree.

Despite how tired she was, for some reason she felt falling asleep a very difficult task. It was almost as if she was sleeping in the vicinity of someone she did not know and could easily kill her in her sleep…Oh wait! She was! Long after the man had finished his food, he simply sat there. One would think he was asleep sitting up, if not for the fact that every now and then he'd idly nod as if listening intently to a conversation. He had been doing it for the last hour, and the girl couldn't help but start to regret her decision to sleep here. She was just about to get up to leave, when the man grunted and stood up.

"Fine." He said, seemingly to himself. Noticing the girl was awake out of the corner of his eye, he turned to her and spoke.

"Sleep." And she did.

**A/N:**

I hadn't intended to write in this style, or write a chapter so short, but the chapter wrote itself and I like the outcome. I fear it's a bit worse then my usual writing as I am out of practice, but you be the judge.

In any case, I'll try making lengthier chapters, but if the chapter chooses to end at a certain point, I must respect its decision to do so. Next update 2-5 days. R&R always appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

**One Half of Two Sides:**

**Chapter 3:**

"Eat."

It was a simple command. A hot repetitive touch on her cheek woke the girl from her slumber. Rather dazedly she swatted it away from her face, only for it to be returned to poking her. Her eyes opened to see a cooked animal carcass on a stick being prodded into her face, the person performing the activity clearly amused despite his shadowed face.

"W-what are you doing?" The girl asked groggily as she sat up from her resting spot.

"Poking you." The man deadpanned. Angrily she snatched the food from his grasp but then looked at it unsurely, remembering last nights events. The man caught her expression.

"Eat it, it's yours." He reassured. Putting it to her mouth slowly, she ate her food rather tensely; not liking the close proximity the man was to her. He was sat on his haunches not a metre away from her, watching contentedly as she ate her food. His unwavering gaze made her nervous, she felt as if he was waiting for her to say something; she lowered the food from her mouth.

"Thank you for the food." She tried. Slowly, the man seemed to register what she had said before giving a nod and standing back up.

She waited till he had returned to his rock before resuming her eating with much more vigour and less restrained. Only now with the tension gone did she realise how truly hungry she had been. She watched the man curiously, now feeling slightly more relaxed around him. He didn't seem to talk much…and he didn't seem to DO much either, just sit and eat. She raised her head lazily to the sky, noting it was around noon.

'_I should be leaving soon, if I am to get out of this wretched forest._'

Finishing off her food, she slipped out from under her blanket and made her way over to the man. His head turned in her direction as she came to a halt in front of him. She bowed.

"Thank you for the food." She said, more sincerely this time. Like always, the man seemed to have to register her words before understanding them.

"You already said that." He replied. She blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"I felt a need to reiterate my thanks."

He nodded, seeming to accept this answer.

"My name is Shaolin." She added, straightening from her bow to an upright posture.

The man seemed to mull over the name.

"Shaolin." He murmured. Reaching back with his hand he slowly pulled his hood back to reveal his face. Into view came a mop of neck length orange hair, a shade she had never seen before, but the thing that caught her attention were his eyes. The irises were a deep yellow, and the scarlea pitch black, the man indeed had an exotic look going.

"Ichigo." He said simply. "At least, that's what he calls me…" He trailed off frowning. She decided not to question this last statement, it seemed it wasn't meant for her ears.

"So what will you do now?" He asked. Shaolin gave him a questioning look.

"About what?"

"Where are you headed now, and who with, I can't imagine you're out here alone." He rephrased. She gave a thoughtful frown.

"Well I am currently lost in this god forsaken forest. After I get out I don't any specific destination in mind…and despite what you may think, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, so yes, I am alone." This earned a snort from the orange haired man.

"That's not what you or your stomach were saying last night." He retorted. She blushed slightly but didn't respond, conceding the point.

"In any case," He started, getting up off his rock "I'll show you the way out."

"Thanks." She muttered to the ground.

Ichigo smirked.

"This way."

They walked for what felt like a good hour, seemingly making no ground, but her concern was thrown aside when they ventured upon the trodden path through the forest that she had originally lost her way from.

"Left is district 78 and right is district 77." He said pointing in their respective directions.

"This forest is located only about 3 miles out of 78 though, so that's your nearest and best bet for food and shelter."

"I must say, I doubted your ability to navigate your way out of this forest, but it seems that doubt was ill placed." She spoke offhandedly.

"I live in this forest, whatta' ya expect." He snorted indignantly. This earned him a curious look.

"You live here?"

A frown marred his face.

"Yeah…for the most part. There's no streams around here though, so every now and then I pay a visit to 78."

"It must be nice, having a place to call home…"

For reasons unknown to her, a scowl quickly etched itself onto his face.

"This isn't my home." Feeling the atmosphere get tense, she decided a change of topic was in order.

"How will I be able to find you again?" She asked. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Why would you want to find me again?" His voice sharp.

'_Why indeed?_' She asked herself.

"D-do I need a reason?" She asked stuttering slightly. The look on her face calmed him, although it was covered by embarrassment right now, underneath it was a look of loneliness. She wasn't one of _them_, just a lonely kid. He saw no deceit in her; just want of a lonely soul. Letting his guard down he put his hand on her shoulder.

"If you come, I'll find you." He said. Shaolin looked up in relief and surprise, the man who seemed so closed off and distant, now seemed almost friendly. Suddenly she found herself not wanting to leave, but she knew it'd be out of the question to stay any longer, she needed to stock up on supplies and didn't want to take anymore of Ichigo's. With some reluctance she started to walk away.

"Well I guess I'll see you later then." She whispered.

"Yeah." He replied.

She turned around for one last glance, only to find he was already gone.

3 Years Later

"That'll be 10 coppers." The merchant said.

The hooded man examined the rather large barrel of water to his side, considering if the price was fair. With a nod he handed over the wanted amount before picking up the barrel and leaving.

"Come again!" The merchant yelled after him.

'_Tch, last time wasn't it 9 coppers? I'd say that fat ass's ripping us off.'_

The voice came from within the hooded mans head, he was reluctant to give a response however and continued walking unimpeded. People cast glances his way but he ignored them, something about being a tall hooded guy carrying a fairly large barrel in one hand effortlessly seemed to draw attention. When he arrived on the outskirts of the district and noticed no one around, he promptly vanished with a dull buzz. It took him but a minute to cover the 3 mile distance back to his dwelling.

Reappearing, he set his barrel of water down next to his favourite rock before removing the lid and taking a swig. He sighed in contentment.

'_Now back to sitting.' _ The voice said dryly. The man picked up a stick off of the ground before seating himself on his rock. He poked and prodded the ground for an ungodly amount of time. This was the usual, except the stick was an added bonus, making the routine slightly more exciting.

'_You really need some friends, Ichigo. This is fucking boring.' _The voice drawled.

Ichigo didn't seem to hear him, but the voice continued nonetheless.

'_What about that girl? What was her name again…Shao- something. Haven't seen her in awhile. You seemed to be able to hold a decent conversation with her without killing her.' _

Ichigo grunted in response.

'_And what was that crap about 'If you come I'll find you' or something.' _The voice laughed. There was a pause, then a sigh.

'_Too bad she never came though.' _The voice said, melancholy evident…or maybe just boredom. This seemed to get to Ichigo, as he had consciously or subconsciously etched the words 'Shut up' into the dirt. Whether the voice saw this is not unknown, however after it was written, the voice did not speak again. Ichigo sat there staring at the words. It wasn't until a strange noise was heard that he looked up to see the sky tearing open. A menacing howl could be heard emanating from the tear, before something stepped out of it. Something big.

**A/N: **

Finally I have a definitive plot set out and the short worded chapters are out of the way. Setting a minimum of 3k from now on, weekly updates most likely.

Blackout2010: Yeah, that was Ichigo, you'll see in this chapter. Btw, just fyi, your Soi/ichi fic got me into the pairing, and is easily the best one I have read, if anyones looking for a good soi/ichi fic, check out this guys one.

Yuriski-1st: This is AU canon, in the first chapter it showed how Mayuri ended up in the maggots nest. The alternate universe part is that Ichigo is alive during this time, but it is set in times before the 'turn back the clock' arc when it showed Urahara and the rest as captains.

Desuse:  It wasn't really for mystery of keeping Ichigo and Soifon unknown, its more that, since I'm writing it from a weird perspective I felt it would be wrong to mention their names when neither knows the others name. If you disregarded the Authors notes and just read the story, I'm sure it'd make more sense.


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